Hydrated and Prepped Skin Throughout Autumn

We are now firmly in the middle of Autumn (well kind of) and it has got me thinking about incorporating new products into my skincare routine in order to cater for the colder weather that we are now embracing. Strictly speaking I am not using all of the above products together at any one time, my skin type is combination to oily with bouts of dehydration thrown in for good measure, therefore to suddenly bombard it with moisture inducing products would perhaps be a little too much. That being said, over recent weeks I have being trying out a few new things in order to see how they live up to the task of keeping my skin hydrated without increasing oiliness.

The Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream is a cult beauty product, yet for a self-proclaimed beauty enthusiast, I am almost ashamed to admit that I have yet to try it. Furthermore, when I was kindly sent the above to review a few months ago I found myself pretty excited to finally give something from the range a whirl. The Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream All-Over Miracle Oil is infused with Tsubaki Oil which is known for its hydrating properties. This product can be used for your hair, body and face, although in all honesty I have strictly used this on my body so far. In a nut shell I absolutely love it as it sinks in quickly leaving my skin silky smooth. I notoriously suffer from dry skin, particularly on my legs therefore having incorporated this into my skincare routine I have noticed a notable difference. So far this is working wonders at keeping my legs and the rest of my body hydrated. No pesky dry knees that is for sure.

In the past I have purchased and used a number of products from the Super Facialist range, they have all been fantastic. One of my favourite products is the Rose Miracle Makeover Facial Oil, it is beautiful therefore I was very optimistic about the day moisturiser from the same range. First and foremost, you need to like the rose scent to enjoy this product, it isn’t the most over powering that I have tried however the scent is still relatively prominent. Personally I really like this so it does not affect me, although I know that this could be an issue for some. This is a really nice day cream, it isn’t heavy at all and sinks in very well on the skin, however I do like to leave it a few minutes before I apply my primer for my make up. It is also worth noting that it has SPF 15 which is a nice addition as it provides you with just that extra bit of protection no matter what time of the year.

This product instantly reminded me of a moisturiser that I used to use religiously, long before I started A Little Boat Sailing. Sadly, that moisturiser was discontinued and ever since I have missed that product within my routine. Whilst this serum isn’t a moisturiser by nature it does have the same transparent look to it and texture. It is incredibly smooth, light weight and very cool to apply. In all honesty I was not expecting to like this product as much as I do; it is somewhat a bit of a lucky find. It is the first product from Dirty Works that I have tried and it has been a positive one at that. Not least is this super affordable, it really has helped my skin in terms of keeping it hydrated as I have been suffering of late. Whilst it is no miracle worker I do think that for £8, currently on offer at the time of writing for £5 that this really is worth trying out for yourself.

Moving slightly away from keeping your skin nice and hydrated this autumn to keeping it prepped. Now I don’t know about you but the first area of my skin to start showing signs that the cold weather is getting to it is my lips. They become chapped and so sore, therefore in order to help combat that I like to gently exfoliate my lips in order to remove the dead skin cells. This then allows a nice thick lip balm to be applied to fresh skin.

The Pixi Nourishing Lip Polish is a bit of an odd product as I initially thought that the product itself would have little sugar particles in, however from my experience in using it the only form of exfoliation comes from the applicator which has small raised bumps on it. To be honest I don’t really like this method, it actually makes my lips a little sore after use which I am sure wasn’t the aim. Regardless of this the actual product itself had no taste to it, I mean to say that it was very bland and somewhat verged on the side of tasting pretty awful. Not that any lip product should be eaten, I am not going to start encouraging that however considering it is this type of product one would expect this to have at least been considered. We all want a nice tasting lip balm no?

Whilst I personally cannot recommend this myself it may of course work for you. It did the job in terms of exfoliating my lips that is for sure, it just wasn’t an enjoyable product to use.

Similar to my initial thoughts on the Dirty Works Serum, I was not sure what to expect of the Argan+ Overnight Treatment Cream. Up until now I had never tried the brand so of course I went in with an open mind. We all know that Argan Oil is well known for its hydration properties, it is found in so many hair care products as well as skincare therefore I knew that this would be a good product to start road testing at this time of year.

There is no denying it that this product has one of the most incredible scents that I have ever smelt; it is utterly divine. In truth I fell in love with it long before I even applied it to my face. Speaking of which, once applied I really did think that it was going to take a long time to sink in, however I was pleasantly surprised. Having said that I have not used this on top of a particularly oily serum as I feel as though the two combined would be too heavy for my skin, that being said on top of the nice light Dirty Works serum as featured above this has worked beautifully. At first it was slightly tacky, in fact I really do emphasise the word slightly as it wasn’t too much of a bother in truth, whereby after a minute or so this feeling had completely disappeared. It goes without saying that this gets the big thumbs up from me, it simply works and does the job very nicely indeed.

Regular readers will know that the Kiehl’s Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado is probably my most loved product of all time, yes you read that correctly, I really do mean of all time. No other eye cream has ever came close to providing the hydration that this one does. It is a constant repurchase and it is used throughout the year every single day, no matter how warm or cold it is. This little gem has a whole review dedicated to it which you can read here.

So there we have it, some new and old products which are used to help keep my skin hydrated and prepped throughout not just autumn but into winter too. Whilst I did not love the Pixi Lip Scrub I do in general really like the Pixi brand, the Glow Tonic is top notch! Personally I would highly recommend the LUSH Bubblegum Lip Scrub if you’re in the market for one, it is however slightly messier as it is in a little pot.